yoshiko nawa minhchanh_98@y... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Sat Dec 6, 2003 6:31
pm</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Re: [2004JET] Re: confirmation cards?</font>
<tt>I sent mine in on the 26th and received my
confirmation card on the 5th.
Phil
--- Justin! justin@e... wrote:
I sent mine priorit mail and got the confirmation
card 8 days later
(with a sunday and thanksgiving in between). Being
a little closer
to the deadline, they might have a larger influx
now, causing the
process to be a little slower, but I"m not sure.
Anyway, good luck!

--- In 2004JET@yahoogroups.com, thatsasin
thatsasin@y... wrote:
Just curious whether anyone"s received their
confirmation card
stating
that the JET people have received your
application, or if anyone
knows
how long it"s supposed to take to send them out.
I sent my JET app
via overnight mail on Tuesday and am wondering
when I should start
to
worry.

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/

The waiting"s not easy since I have to figure out my plan B in the
mean time...But I"m trying to think of it as a good thing, to give me
time to do some research and prepare myself for the interview if I
get one!

A bit about myself: I"m 21, have no teaching or Japanese language
experience, have a degree in env biology and a grad dip in film and
TV. I"m hoping to produce educational docos in the future and I think
JET will help me to do that, well in an indirect way. Can anyone
suggest a few good texts for learning some basic Japanese on my own?

Another thing- I heard the process in each country varies a lot,
would love to get some feedback about any Aussies who have already
had an interview and how it went.

bron_v vealeb@h... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Sun Dec 7, 2003 12:05
pm</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Re: interesting new bit</font>
<tt>I just have to say that I loved Neon Genesis and Princess Mononoke! I
recently did work experience for a local film company who were making
a doco about the effect of violence in video games ( Just a Game -
will be shown on channel 9 sometime soon for anyone in the land of
Oz) and that was a really interesting experience. What I got out of
it was that there are a few ppl who are adversely affected, but it"s
a small minority and generally the games themselves aren"t the only
factor.

This isn"t really related, but I saw a doco a while ago about
Japanese students playing up in class and hitting teachers...I was
wondering if ALTs have to deal with disciplining students as well or
if the JTEs handle that. Also if anyone has experienced this or knows
someone who has??

Saw this while browsing though my jpn sites. Basically a news story
about the results of a hearing in Yamagata Prefecture. The hearing
was for a 22 year old guy who beat his mother (47) to death with a
wooden bat as a result of anime.

Apparently, back in high school, the accused was sympathetic(?)
with
lines like the ultimate result of evolution is destruction from
Neon Genesis Evangelion. As well as, the idea that mankind are a
violent creature that destories everything around them . Eventually
all of this led to his interest in murder. The day that he
commmited
the crime, he was suffeing from problems at work, pushing him over
the edge and the murder rampage starting with his family.

The distric attorny (judge?) said that even though they had the
accused go through psychology tests due to comments like the
population of mankind needs to be decreased or else... , but he is
still responsible for the criminal acts that he commited (had to
fudge the last part of the trans cuz i"m not familiar with all the
legal terms).

If i remember correctly, there were also a couple of case in the
last
decade that contributed to a fairly negative image of anime/manga
in
japan. There was one of a boy that cut off his school mate"s head
and
stuck it on a fence about 6 or 7 years ago. As well as the arrest
of
a well known director (the guy that worked on Starblazer i thihnk),
for illegal arms charges...he had howizer shells as well as enough
munition for a small army in his car and home. All of this were in
the last decade.

Brento bsilk@s... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Sun Dec 7, 2003 11:11
pm</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Re: Nihon go</font>
<tt>I"ve been reading Read Japanese Today! to get a simple grasp of
reading the language. That might come in handy when your at a bullet
train station, or looking for a shop of some sort. It is by Len
Walsh, and a very fun read! I"ve got a copy of it on my computer and
you might be able to find the electronic version on Kazza or
something like that.

I guess most people here have some interest in Japan, and possibly
even an interest in Japanese. I"m curious what my fellow JET
hopefuls
are doing about familiarising themselves with the local lingo.

Myself, I"ve enrolled on an evening class, and can now happily
introduce myself and present you with my business card. It"s going
pretty slow (what kind of person names the days of the month??!)
but Watashi wa ganbatte desu (or something).

So anyone wanting to share ideas, encouragement, The Best Book, or
just plain ridicule my nonsensical rambling... dozo.

Justin! justin@e... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Mon Dec 8, 2003 3:40
am</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Database - Charting our Progress</font>
<tt>I encourage everyone to take a look at the database section of the
group and fill out the table, so we can easily see where everyone is
in the selection process. I think this will add to the ability to
keep each other updated. I realize that some people may want to
keep their status private in case they don"t make it, but I think
this will be helpful and fun. Anyway, I"m doing it. :) Fill it out
if you want to !

I just set up a new database in the members section of our Yahoo group. I
thought it
might be useful to put in a brain dump of all the questions we can recall or
make up
for interview situations. The way I see it, if you can put in 10-15 minutes each
day (or
even once a week) to try thinking about these questions, we can better present
ourselves under the stressful conditions of the real thing.

Throw in some easy ones that you can think of, but don"t hesitate to throw a
couple
of curve-balls to mix it up. I think building a questions db will be a useful
springboard for discussions. If you also stumble across posts which talk about
past
interviews, add those questions to help build our DB.

From:otteer@l... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Mon Dec 8, 2003 3:17
pm</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Re: [2004JET] Aussie applicants</font>
<tt> JET will help me to do that, well in an indirect way. Can anyone
suggest a few good texts for learning some basic Japanese on my own?

I"ve tried a few and I recommend Japanese For Busy People cuz it gets you
started reading kana right away, and Berlitz Basic Japanese was great for
general speaking/learning. I found the context of their cheesy skits really
helped me remember stuff.

Also I recommend doing what I did, going to the library, grabbing some, and
seeing what you like best...

Good luck!

Eric

On Sun, Dec 07, 2003 at 11:13:48AM -0000, bron_v wrote:
Hi all,
I"ve applied for JET 04, but won"t find out if I scored an interview
til mid Jan I think. Are there any other Perth applicants in this
group?

The waiting"s not easy since I have to figure out my plan B in the
mean time...But I"m trying to think of it as a good thing, to give me
time to do some research and prepare myself for the interview if I
get one!

A bit about myself: I"m 21, have no teaching or Japanese language
experience, have a degree in env biology and a grad dip in film and
TV. I"m hoping to produce educational docos in the future and I think
JET will help me to do that, well in an indirect way. Can anyone
suggest a few good texts for learning some basic Japanese on my own?

Another thing- I heard the process in each country varies a lot,
would love to get some feedback about any Aussies who have already
had an interview and how it went.

Peter Honigmann Jr foleyhonigmann@s... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Mon Dec 8, 2003 3:20
pm</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Re: [2004JET] Digest Number <font size="-0">
>A number of people have asked about what books or texts to study to learn some Japanese before going over, to which I have a couple suggestions

First, I highly recommend at least learning the basics - which to me includes becoming familiar with hiragana and katakana. I would actually recommend Katakana first, because it is often used on menus. Forget learning the chinese characters right now - except for maybe boy and girl - so you know which bathroom to use.

You will also be doing yourself a great service if you learn some basic expressions and questions. Learning how to greet people, thank them, and ask basic directions would be the most useful.

As for texts - I have found that "Japanese for Busy People" is very user friendly and offers a lot of what I have suggested above. There are also a lot of computer programs which will allow you to record your voice to check your pronunciation and which can be more interesting and useful than just reading a textbook. A travel phrase book can also be helpful as it provides a lot phrases for a wide variety of situations.

However, I truly believe that any book or program which keeps you interested and gets you learning the basics is a good choice. While you will find that quite a few Japanese will have a basic grasp of English, since they have been studying it at school since junior high, the more Japanese you understand the easier it will be to get to work, go shopping, or get medical attention.

A good place to start is a web site from Japan which is designed for kids - but is actually a lot of fun and full of useful information. It is located at http://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/ and I use a lot of the information in the intro Japanese courses I teach. Hope it helps

If you are a vegetarian, how would you handle a situation where you
are the guest of a government official or program representative who
serves you a meal which consists mainly of meat dishes?

I mentioned that I"m a vegetarian on my application, so I"m certain a
question like this will come up. During my internship in Sendai, I
was put in a similar situation when I attended a formal going-away
party for some government employees as a special guest. 90% of the
food was meat dishes in a serve-yourself situation at a table. I just
took a small piece of chicken, nibbled it, then gave the rest to an
American co-worker who sat next to me. Then I went home hungry and
ate some pasta.

But somehow I don"t think this would be an acceptable answer during
the JET interview. Plus, if placed in the same situation again, I
don"t know if I"d eat meat at all. What do you think the correct
reaction to a situation like this would be? I"m interested from the
standpoint of an interviewee and someone who"s genuinely concerned
about offending people at formal functions.

feenixsf rich@s... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Tue Dec 9, 2003 12:19
am</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Re: vegetarianism interview question</font>
<tt>Initially, I"d think the hosts wouldn"t be surprised, since many
Buddhists observe vegetarianism. I suppose it might be difficult to
explain one"s dietary restriction if it were simply by choice and not
by a religious obligation. The latter may provide a graceful
explanation. I think the difficult part is where the host has expended
considerable effort preparing for the invitation - one may not be able
to avoid awkwardness in the situation.

If you are a vegetarian, how would you handle a situation where you
are the guest of a government official or program representative who
serves you a meal which consists mainly of meat dishes?

I mentioned that I"m a vegetarian on my application, so I"m certain
a
question like this will come up. During my internship in Sendai, I
was put in a similar situation when I attended a formal going-away
party for some government employees as a special guest. 90% of the
food was meat dishes in a serve-yourself situation at a table. I
just
took a small piece of chicken, nibbled it, then gave the rest to an
American co-worker who sat next to me. Then I went home hungry and
ate some pasta.

But somehow I don"t think this would be an acceptable answer during
the JET interview. Plus, if placed in the same situation again, I
don"t know if I"d eat meat at all. What do you think the correct
reaction to a situation like this would be? I"m interested from the
standpoint of an interviewee and someone who"s genuinely concerned
about offending people at formal functions.

From:
<a href="ymsgr:sendIM?dynamisx">
</a>
Matt dynamisx@b... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Tue Dec 9, 2003 9:19
am</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Re: vegetarianism interview question</font>
<tt>I think the correct answer is usually just being honest yet
tactful. This kind of situation could as easily occur at home as
abroad. I guess something like thanking them for the effort they
made, and maybe complimenting the taste of some of the veg dishes
could take some of the sting out of your hosts" disappointment!

Matt

(Here"s thanking that I didn"t get any awkward questions in my
interview!)

--- In 2004JET@yahoogroups.com, feenixsf rich@s... wrote:
Initially, I"d think the hosts wouldn"t be surprised, since many
Buddhists observe vegetarianism. I suppose it might be difficult to
explain one"s dietary restriction if it were simply by choice and
not
by a religious obligation. The latter may provide a graceful
explanation. I think the difficult part is where the host has
expended
considerable effort preparing for the invitation - one may not be
able
to avoid awkwardness in the situation.

If you are a vegetarian, how would you handle a situation where
you
are the guest of a government official or program representative
who
serves you a meal which consists mainly of meat dishes?

I mentioned that I"m a vegetarian on my application, so I"m
certain
a
question like this will come up. During my internship in Sendai,
I
was put in a similar situation when I attended a formal going-away
party for some government employees as a special guest. 90% of
the
food was meat dishes in a serve-yourself situation at a table. I
just
took a small piece of chicken, nibbled it, then gave the rest to
an
American co-worker who sat next to me. Then I went home hungry
and
ate some pasta.

But somehow I don"t think this would be an acceptable answer
during
the JET interview. Plus, if placed in the same situation again, I
don"t know if I"d eat meat at all. What do you think
the correct
reaction to a situation like this would be? I"m interested from
the
standpoint of an interviewee and someone who"s genuinely concerned
about offending people at formal functions.

I"ve tried a few and I recommend Japanese For Busy People cuz it
gets you started reading kana right away, and Berlitz Basic
Japanese was great for general speaking/learning. I found the
context of their cheesy skits really helped me remember stuff.

I use Japanese for Busy People for my evening course. I think its
actually quite poor as a language book, although it gets the job
done, and its very popular. I"t doesn"t actually teach you Kana, but
just starts using it, and leaves it up to you to learn it, although
this depends on the edition you get.

My favourite quote from the book is: Memorise the numbers from 100
to 1,000,000,000,000.

Also I recommend doing what I did, going to the library, grabbing
some, and seeing what you like best...

Definitely a good idea. I found a really good book called Colloquial
Japanese It introduces Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji at the same
time, but in a well thought out, memorable way.

I guess the most important thing I"ve found is to pick a book you
like, and stick with it.

bron_v vealeb@h... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Tue Dec 9, 2003 1:25
pm</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: thnx</font>
<tt>Just wanted to say I think this site is great and quite useful, since
I only joined yesterday! RE the suggested texts, the same names are
coming up which is a good sign, thanks for the info :)
Bron.

I had to take classes at 3 different language schools and we"ve tried, Japanese
for Busy people , Situational functional japanese , and Learn Japanese . I"d
have to agree that Japanese for Busy People is the best beginners book. It
doesn"t give you all the nuances of the language (good for beginners) and it
groups the grammer topics and vocabularies very nicely. My japanese teacher
said that the first volume is really good, but they didn"t like the 2nd one.

For higher levels, I like situational functional japanese , which I think is
like a lot of japanese textbooks out there. These books usually group lessons
by real life situations. But they introduce different grammer rules in each
chapter, and then add to the same rules in later chapters. I find it confusing.
But it"s more detailed in that it introduces more common speech, better
dialogues, and a lot of cultural explanations.

I"ve heard that japanese schools in japan use minna no nihongo? or something
like that......

Hi, br br I"ve tried a few and I recommend Japanese For Busy People cuz it
br gets you started reading kana right away, and Berlitz Basic br Japanese
was great for general speaking/learning. I found the br context of their
cheesy skits really helped me remember stuff. br br I use Japanese for Busy
People for my evening course. I think its br actually quite poor as a language
book, although it gets the job br done, and its very popular. I"t doesn"t
actually teach you Kana, but br just starts using it, and leaves it up to you
to learn it, although br this depends on the edition you get. br br My
favourite quote from the book is: Memorise the numbers from 100 br to
1,000,000,000,000. br br br Also I recommend doing what I did, going to
the library, grabbing br some, and seeing what you like
best... br br Definitely a good idea. I found a really good book called
Colloquial br Japanese It introduces Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji at the
same br time, but in a well thought out, memorable way. br br I guess the most
important thing I"ve found is to pick a book you br like, and stick with
it. br br Matt br br br br br ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups
Sponsor ---------------------~-- br Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your
HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark br Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or
more to the US &
Canada. br http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 br <a href="http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/UAuolB/TM">http://us.click.yahoo.com
/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/UAuolB/TM</a> br ---------------------------------------------
------------------------~- br br To unsubscribe from this group, send an email
to: br 2004JET-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com br br br br Your use of Yahoo!
Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ br br br

_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!

hannah_e_y hannah_e_y@y... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Tue Dec 9, 2003 9:14
pm</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: New person! Hi!</font>
<tt>Hi there, I"ve just applied to the JET scheme, and found this group
while trying to find out more about what I"m letting myself in for!

I"m interested to know the ages of most applicants.

I am 27, and have been a primary school teacher in the UK for 6
years. Is anyone else as old as me and are there any folk who are
leaving behind professional careers?

A man can feel mighty old surrounded by all these young ones who are
just graduating from college. Just so you know - energy and motivation
spans across any age difference!

I"m 30 and considering a shift from my current professional career. It
spooks me at times, but the prospects seem quite bright and exciting
all the same.

Be sure to post any good links or information that you find. We
currently have a database set up to track the admissions process and
also one to store questions to prepare for the inevitable big
interview . Contribute what you can!

Rich

--- In 2004JET@yahoogroups.com, hannah_e_y hannah_e_y@y... wrote:
Hi there, I"ve just applied to the JET scheme, and found this group
while trying to find out more about what I"m letting myself in for!

I"m interested to know the ages of most applicants.

I am 27, and have been a primary school teacher in the UK for 6
years. Is anyone else as old as me and are there any folk who are
leaving behind professional careers?

Tad Morgan tad-ml@s... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Wed Dec 10, 2003 2:37
am</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Re: [2004JET] New person! Hi!</font>
<tt>On Tuesday 09 December 2003 02:14 pm, hannah_e_y wrote:
I am 27, and have been a primary school teacher in the UK for 6
years. Is anyone else as old as me and are there any folk who are
leaving behind professional careers?

Am I mad?!

Well, probably no madder than I. 33 year old programmer, though currently
looking for new job (to tide me over til JET 8-) ). Actually applied last
year, but didn"t make it to the interview stage -- hopefully do better this
time around. This would be an interesting change, I think, that I would
enjoy.

Justin! justin@e... </font>
<font size="-0">Date: Wed Dec 10, 2003 6:37
am</font>
<font size="-0">Subject: Database Fever</font>
<tt>In what can now officially be dubbed Official Database Kickoff
Week , I"ve added a category to help us get to know each other
beyond our names and other stats in order to enhance the community
aspect of the group. It"s really basic, and I titled it Part 1 in
case someone wanted to add a more in depth database later.

I"m actually curious to know how many people here are the youngin"s
on the board. Its just kind of interesting noting the people that
joing the group who already have a profession whereas us kids are
thinking that perhaps JET is that expanse of time to think a bit
longer about what we want to do in life.

Or maybe thats just me. x_x

Totally unrelated note but I noticed a good bunch of people in the
database chose either Kagawa or Nara as choices. Would be interesting
if we all end at either places I suppose!

A man can feel mighty old surrounded by all these young ones who
are
just graduating from college. Just so you know - energy and
motivation
spans across any age difference!

I"m 30 and considering a shift from my current professional career.
It
spooks me at times, but the prospects seem quite bright and
exciting
all the same.

Be sure to post any good links or information that you find. We
currently have a database set up to track the admissions process
and
also one to store questions to prepare for the inevitable big
interview . Contribute what you can!

Rich

--- In 2004JET@yahoogroups.com, hannah_e_y hannah_e_y@y...
wrote:
Hi there, I"ve just applied to the JET scheme, and found this
group
while trying to find out more about what I"m letting myself in
for!

I"m interested to know the ages of most applicants.

I am 27, and have been a primary school teacher in the UK for 6
years. Is anyone else as old as me and are there any folk who
are
leaving behind professional careers?